Phillips auction sets record with $225 million total

On May 18, 2022, Phillips achieved its highest-ever auction total of $225 million in New York, with all lots sold. The top lot was Jean-Michel Basquiat's Untitled (Devil) (1982) from Yusaku Maezawa's collection, selling for $85 million. Alexander Calder's 39=50 (1959) fetched $15.65 million, Yayoi Kusama's Untitled (nets) (1959) sold for $10.5 million, and Yves Klein's Relief Éponge bleu sans titre (RE 49) (1961) reached $20 million. Mark Rothko's Untitled (1959) exceeded its high estimate, Andy Warhol's Flowers (1964) sold for $9.35 million, and Roy Lichtenstein's Nude (1997) went for $10.27 million. Emerging artists also performed well: Anna Weyant's Buffet II (2021) sold for over $700,000, María Berrío's Burrow of the Yellow (2013) neared $1 million, Cecily Brown's Angie (2005) fetched nearly $6 million, and Emmanuel Taku's The Three Damsels (2021) sold for four times its low estimate. Robert Manley, Phillips' vice president and co-head of 20th Century & Contemporary Art, noted that 70% of works sold above their high estimates and 14 of 31 artists were women.